Multi-elastic Datacenters: Auto-scaled Virtual Clusters on Energy-Aware Physical Infrastructures

[EN] Computer clusters are widely used platforms to execute different computational workloads. Indeed, the advent of virtualization and Cloud computing has paved the way to deploy virtual elastic clusters on top of Cloud infrastructures, which are typically backed by physical computing clusters. In turn, the advances in Green computing have fostered the ability to dynamically power on the nodes of physical clusters as required. Therefore, this paper introduces an open-source framework to deploy elastic virtual clusters running on elastic physical clusters where the computing capabilities of the virtual clusters are dynamically changed to satisfy both the user application's computing requirements and to minimise the amount of energy consumed by the underlying physical cluster that supports an on-premises Cloud. For that, we integrate: i) an elasticity manager both at the infrastructure level (power management) and at the virtual infrastructure level (horizontal elasticity); ii) an automatic Virtual Machine (VM) consolidation agent that reduces the amount of powered on physical nodes using live migration and iii) a vertical elasticity manager to dynamically and transparently change the memory allocated to VMs, thus fostering enhanced consolidation. A case study based on real datasets executed on a production infrastructure is used to validate the proposed solution. The results show that a multi-elastic virtualized datacenter provides users with the ability to deploy customized scalable computing clusters while reducing its energy footprint.The results of this work have been partially supported by ATMOSPHERE (Adaptive, Trustworthy, Manageable, Orchestrated, Secure, Privacy-assuring Hybrid, Ecosystem for Resilient Cloud Computing), funded by the European Commission under the Cooperation Programme, Horizon 2020 grant agreement No 777154.Alfonso Laguna, CD.; Caballer Fernández, M.; Calatrava Arroyo, A.; Moltó, G.; Blanquer Espert, I. (2018). Multi-elastic Datacenters: Auto-scaled Virtual Clusters on Energy-Aware Physical Infrastructures. Journal of Grid Computing. 17(1):191-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10723-018-9449-zS191204171Buyya, R.: High Performance Cluster Computing: Architectures and Systems. 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Short Communication. Physiological effects of Rhizopogon Roseolus on Pinus halepensis seedlings

Aim of study: The inoculation of forest seedlings with ectomycorrhizal fungi can improve the morphological and physiological qualities of plants, especially those used for regeneration of arid areas. Rhizopogon roseolus is an ectomycorrhizal fungus (ECM) commonly used for reforestation. In this study, the specific objectives were to know some morphophysiological effects of Rhizopogon Roseolus on Pinus halepensis seedlings under standard nursery conditionsArea of study: ETSI Montes and EUIT Forestal, Madrid.Material and Methods: In nursery, under well watered conditions and peat growing substrates, Aleppo pine seedlings were inoculated with R. roseolus. Five months after the inoculations, we examined the growth, water parameters (osmotic potential at full turgor [Ψπfull], osmotic potential at zero turgor [Ψπ0], and the tissue modulus of elasticity near full turgor [Emax]), mycorrhizal colonization, and concentration and content of macronutrients in the seedlings. Subsequently, a trial was conducted to assess the root growth potential.Main results: The mycorrhization decreased the height and diameter of mycorrhizal seedlings but increased the root weight and root branching. R. roseolus did not cause any significant effect on the regeneration of new roots or on any of the tested hydric parameters, but it did improve N uptake of the seedlings.Research highlights: The mycorrhizal inoculation increased the N uptake. The mycorrhizal inoculation caused opposite effects on some growth parametersKeywords: Osmotic adjustment; elastic adjustment; mineral nutrition; root growth potential; nursery; Rhizopogon roseolus;  Pinus halepensis.

Pure cervical radiculopathy due to spontaneous spinal epidural haematoma (SSEH): report of a case solved conservatively

Abstract Introduction: Spontaneous spinal epidural haematoma (SSEH) is widely recognised throughout the literature as a cause of myelopathy, radicular compression being very rarely reported. Surgical management is almost always recommended, especially in the cases of spinal cord compression. Conservative treatment is reported as a curiosity and only in the case of spontaneous improvement. This report presents the particular case of a 64-year-old patient undergoing anticoagulant therapy that had a cervical radiculopathy due to a SSEH confirmed by MRI. The patient improved spontaneously and symptoms were solved with unconventional conservative treatment and without stopping the anticoagulant therapy. Conclusions: Spontaneous epidural haematoma must be kept in mind when patients undergoing anticoagulant therapy have a sudden onset of cervicobrachialgia. Even though most spinal surgeons advocate surgical treatment, a conservative approach may lead to a complete recovery and may be considered as a good option in the case of radicular involvement. Discontinuation of the anticoagulant therapy may not always be needed, especially when the clinical syndrome improves spontaneously

Allelic and phenotypic characterization of CYP2D6 and its encoded P450 cytochrome enzyme in a serie of Spanish type 1 Gaucher disease patients

Background: Cytochrome p450 is the main drug metabolic pathway. CYP2D6 is a highly polymorphic gene that encodes a cytochrome p450 enzyme with three activity levels: null, reduced and normal. Apart from another type of mutations CYP2D6 can suffer duplications and deletions of the entire gene. This is the pathway to metabolize one of the Gaucher disease treatments, whose dose administration is regulated according to the metabolizer phenotype, this being one of the administration limitations. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the allelic frequencies and the metabolizer status of Gaucher type 1 patients in the Spanish population and compare it with the general Spanish population and other Gaucher disease groups. Methods: In this study, 109 type 1 Gaucher disease patients were analyzed with the xTAG®CYP2D6 kit to identify the CYP2D6 gene alleles. Results: We observed that eighty-seven patients could be classified as extensive, 14 as intermediate, 6 as poor and 2 as ultra-rapid metabolizers. The allelic duplication frequency is 5.5% and deletion is 4.5%. The most common allele is wild-type and the second is the null *4 allele. Intermediate phenotype frequency is higher than expected (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our Spanish GD series shows an unexpected distribution of some alleles and phenotypic metabolizer status, in contrast to that previously reported in the Spanish population

Discovery of water vapour in the carbon star V Cygni from observations with Herschel/HIFI

We report the discovery of water vapour toward the carbon star V Cygni. We have used Herschel's HIFI instrument, in dual beam switch mode, to observe the 1(11) - 0(00) para-water transition at 1113.3430 GHz in the upper sideband of the Band 4b receiver. The observed spectral line profile is nearly parabolic, but with a slight asymmetry associated with blueshifted absorption, and the integrated antenna temperature is 1.69 \pm 0.17 K km/s. This detection of thermal water vapour emission, carried out as part of a small survey of water in carbon-rich stars, is only the second such detection toward a carbon-rich AGB star, the first having been obtained by the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite toward IRC+10216. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio of 3 for water, the observed line intensity implies a water outflow rate ~ (3 - 6) E-5 Earth masses per year and a water abundance relative to H2 of ~ (2-5) E-6. This value is a factor of at least 1E+4 larger than the expected photospheric abundance in a carbon-rich environment, and - as in IRC+10216 - raises the intriguing possibility that the observed water is produced by the vapourisation of orbiting comets or dwarf planets. However, observations of the single line observed to date do not permit us to place strong constraints upon the spatial distribution or origin of the observed water, but future observations of additional transitions will allow us to determine the inner radius of the H2O-emitting zone, and the H2O ortho-to-para ratio, and thereby to place important constraints upon the origin of the observed water emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (HIFI special issue

Dietary supplements’ endorsements. A content analysis of claims and appeals on Spanish radio

The aims of this study are to analyze the presence of endorsers in DS advertising on Spanish radio and the health-related product information of endorsements on full service Spanish radio. To this end, the content analysis of all radio spots broadcast throughout the year 2017 is conducted, deriving a corpus of 165 different radio spots belonging to the product category of dietary supplements, broadcast a total of 10,566 times. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, endorsers are a peripheral cue and increase advertising persuasion. The main results show that the most prevalent type of endorser in DS radio spots is the anonymous spokesperson, followed by celebrities, and that endorsers use explicit claims more frequently than implicit claims. Additionally, experts and celebrities use rational appeals more frequently while emotional appeals predominate in endorsements by typical consumers. Thus, rational appeals are prevalent in endorsements voiced by the most credible endorsers: experts and celebrities. That is, the higher the social recognition and credibility of the endorser, the greater the weight of direct, explicit and rational arguments in the message, while less attention is given to emotional appeals.The aims of this study are to analyze the presence of endorsers in DS advertising on Spanish radio and the health-related product information of endorsements on full service Spanish radio. To this end, the content analysis of all radio spots broadcast throughout the year 2017 is conducted, deriving a corpus of 165 different radio spots belonging to the product category of dietary supplements, broadcast a total of 10,566 times. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, endorsers are a peripheral cue and increase advertising persuasion. The main results show that the most prevalent type of endorser in DS radio spots is the anonymous spokesperson, followed by celebrities, and that endorsers use explicit claims more frequently than implicit claims. Additionally, experts and celebrities use rational appeals more frequently while emotional appeals predominate in endorsements by typical consumers. Thus, rational appeals are prevalent in endorsements voiced by the most credible endorsers: experts and celebrities. That is, the higher the social recognition and credibility of the endorser, the greater the weight of direct, explicit and rational arguments in the message, while less attention is given to emotional appeals